Common US wire gauges - AWG gauges and their current ratings

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The AWG - American Wire Gauge - is used as a standard method denoting wire diameter, measuring the diameter of the conductor (the bare wire) with the insulation removed. AWG is sometimes also known as Brown and Sharpe (B&S) Wire Gauge.

The AWG table below is for a single, solid, round conductor. Because of the small gaps between the strands in a stranded wire, a stranded wire with the same current-carrying capacity and electrical resistance as a solid wire, always have a slightly larger overall diameter.

The higher the number - the thinner the wire. Typical household wiring is AWG number 12 or 14. Telephone wire is typical AWG 22, 24, or 26.

The table below indicates the current ratings of PVC-insulated single and multicore wiring cables. Be aware that the current load depends on installation method - the enclosure - and how well the resistance heat is removed from the cable. Operating temperature of the conductor, ambient temperature and type of conductor insulation is important. Always check the manufactures data before detailed engineering.

AWG

Diameter(mm)

Diameter(in)

Square(mm2)

ResistanceCopper(ohms/1000m)(Ohms/1000 ft)

Typical Max. Current Load Ratings - Copper (amps)1)

Single Core

Multicore

up to 3 cores

4 - 6 cores

7 - 24 cores

25 - 42 cores

43 and above

40

0.08

.

0.0050

3420

39

0.09

.

0.0064

2700

38

0.10

0.0040

0.0078

2190

37

0.11

0.0045

0.0095

1810

36

0.13

0.0050

0.013

1300

35

0.14

0.0056

0.015

1120

34

0.16

0.0063

0.020

844

33

0.18

0.0071

0.026

676

32

0.20

0.0080

0.031

547

30

0.25

0.010

0.049

351

28

0.33

0.013

0.080

232

27

0.36

0.014

0.096

178

26

0.41

0.016

0.13

137

25

0.45

0.018

0.16

108

24

0.51

0.020

0.20

88

3.5

2

1.6

1.4

1.2

1.0

22

0.64

0.025

0.33

52

5.0

3

2.4

2.1

1.8

1.5

20

0.81

0.032

0.50

34

6.0

5

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

18

1.0

0.040

0.82

22

9.5

7

5.6

4.9

4.2

3.5

16

1.3

0.051

1.3

13

20

10

8.0

7.0

6.0

5.0

14

1.6

0.064

2.1

8.5

24

15

12

10

9.0

7.5

13

1.8

0.072

2.6

6.8

12

2.1

0.081

3.3

5.4

34

20

16

14

12

10

10

2.6

0.10

5.3

3.4

52

30

24

21

18

15

8

3.3

0.13

8.3

2.2

75

40

32

28

24

20

6

4.1

0.17

13.3

1.5

95

55

44

38

33

27

4

5.2

0.20

21.2

0.80

120

70

56

49

42

35

3

26.7

154

80

64

56

48

40

2

6.5

0.26

33.6

0.50

170

95

76

66

57

57

1

7.4

0.29

42.4

0.40

180

110

88

77

66

55

0 (1/0)

8.3

0.33

53.5

0.31

200

00 (2/0)

9.3

0.37

67.4

0.25

225

000 (3/0)

10.4

0.41

85.0

0.20

275

0000 (4/0)

11.7

0.46

107

0.16

325

250

127

345

300

152

390

400

178

415

1) Current ratings for up to 1000 V, PVC-insulated single and multicore wiring cables, ambient temperature up to 30oC

The higher the gauge number, the smaller the diameter, and the thinner the wire.

Because of less electrical resistance a thicker wire carries more current with less voltage drop than a thinner wire. For longer distances it may be necessary to increase wire diameter - reducing the gauge - to limit voltage drop.